Field of the Invention
The present invention is encompassed within the technical field of escalators and moving walkaways, specifically to the truss and structural elements for holding the mechanism of the escalator/moving walkway, and more specifically, to modular structures assembled together to make a whole escalator/moving walkway truss.
The invention relates, in particular, to an escalator/moving walkway modular truss which is assembled by means of cold joining technology, providing accurate final dimensions, and being able to support and position the whole guiding system and both right and left balustrades of the escalator/moving walkway.
Description of Related Art
Nowadays the escalator and moving walkway truss is intended merely as a structural element with the only aim of holding the mechanisms located inside the escalator or the moving walkway.
Current escalator and moving walkway modular trusses comprise mainly an upper module, a central module and a lower module, assembled together to form the whole truss. FIG. 1 shows and overall view of a current escalator/moving walkway modular truss with those three modules. These modules consist of a plurality of welded steel tubes or hot rolled profiles, which due to bad tolerances and thermal stresses in the manufacturing process made by welding, form a deformed and misaligned truss. These deformations in the welded structure make the following assembly phase of guide supports and guiding system assembly a very time-consuming and expensive process, since due to these deformations and the high number of components, the connection between elements and modules is difficult, and highly qualified operators are required. That is, due to the deformations in the steel during the welding, the final task for each truss assembly is a straightening process of the whole structure in order to maintain the general dimensions into tolerance. This is a very archaic task which depends basically on the expertise of the operators.
In addition, since the welding process does not ensure accurate truss dimensions, it is not possible to get the same general dimensions in two theoretically identical structures. This means that it is not possible to know exactly the time consumed in assembling each escalator or moving walkway.
Another problem is that during the welding process a lot of sparks, fumes and noises are generated, creating a bad environment at working place. Also, to take into account, the high energy consumption in the welding process.
FIGS. 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d show different views of an assembly process of a truss known in the prior art with all the drawbacks thereof. First, welded structures provide dimensions out of tolerance due to poor raw materials and archaic manufacturing process. Also, the assembly of guide supports for supporting and positioning the guiding system of the escalator/moving walkway takes several hours due to adjustments required. Additionally, the assembly of the guiding system takes another big amount of time due to a high precision required, since ride quality of the escalator/moving walkway highly depends on this guiding system. Moreover, the assembly of aluminum supports for balustrades is required and it takes several hours due to adjustments required, and additionally, balustrades have to be assembled on the aluminum supports, requiring this operation additional time.
Document EP2117747 discloses a method for clinching thick metal workpieces and the use of a clinching tool. The invention relates to a method for the production of a load-bearing structural steel connection. A clinching connection is formed by a male die and a female die using local deformation, and it connects two metal workpieces. The metal workpieces are placed on top of each other on a processing surface of the female die and aligned. Then the male die is applied and lowered into the two metal workpieces until the clinching connection is formed by plastic deformation. The die is configured in a rotationally symmetrical manner with regard to the rotational axis thereof and has a conically shaped transitional region tapering at an angle in the lowering direction of the die.
Document WO2011048437 discloses a truss construction for a passenger conveyor. The invention relates to a truss construction for a passenger conveyor comprising at least one self-supporting element. The self-supporting element, which is a roller molded element, extends in a conveying direction of the passenger conveyor and is formed with at least one rail portion for guiding step chain rollers and/or step rollers.
Document US2009/0050443 discloses a travelator, moving ramp or escalator for transporting passengers, and it comprises conveyor mounted on a frame that is supported on a fixed structure. The frame comprises a number of mutually identical profiled metallic bodies joined together end to end one after the other and containing coupling, supporting and/or guide elements integrated in the profiled metallic body of solid material.
Document US2013/0228414 discloses an escalator or a moving walkway which includes a support structure and a soffit plate. A first side edge region of the soffit plate is fixedly connected with the support structure. In addition, the soffit plate is biased between the first side edge region and a second side edge region, which is opposite the first side edge region, by a predetermined biasing force. In order to maintain the bias the second side edge region is fixedly connected with the support structure, wherein through the maintenance of the biasing force a stiffness of the support structure is increased and in operation of the escalator or the moving walkway the output of noise is reduced.
Document EP2527283 discloses a support, a module to be placed on the support, and a transport system for displacement of people/goods modernized with the module and a modernization method of transport systems for displacement of people/goods. The support has: fixings to fix the support to a bearing structure of the transport system, horizontal tie plates to support and horizontally place the module, lateral tie plates to support and laterally place the module, longitudinal tie plates to support and longitudinally place the module. The module has positioning and verification equipment to place the module maintaining within tolerances the system lines of the transport system. The transport system has: a support and an entrance/exit/central module on an entrance/exit finished floor/in a central section.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,002 shows a method of modernizing an escalator using modular components. The mechanical and electrical parts of an existing escalator are removed, leaving only the structural truss framework and cross members as well as external parts, such as external panels, that interface with the building. A single module is placed at the top of the escalator and another module at the bottom. A plurality of incline modules are placed in the central inclined part of the escalator, at each cross member. By utilizing these modules, the assembly of the escalator is simplified. Furthermore, an entirely new escalator system using the latest technology may be installed rather than merely installing new parts in an old system.
Document US2002/0175039 discloses a support structure for an escalator, which includes a bottom landing, a top landing, and a rise that interconnects the bottom and top landings. An improved truss design comprised of steel modules that are stamped or bent is used to form the rise, the top landing, and the bottom landing. The modules have closed sides, which increases the strength and stiffness of the truss while also providing the enclosure for internal escalator components. The modules are either formed as a single piece or formed from multiple pieces that are welded or fastened together. The modules are then secured to each other to form the rise, the top landing, and the bottom landing.